The next night their camp was on the other side of the ridge, half-way
down; in a sheltered dell they made a small fire and a frugal
meal. Over the following day they dropped down into the valley of the
Wellet, which was wooded for the most part across its floor; there
were a few small settlements here, charcoal-burners and bodgers and
those who kept truffle-swine, but mostly it was deserted and they rode
on beneath a green canopy of leaves. Nearing noon they heard a
crashing in a thicket of low shrubs that grew beside the path; they
reined in their horses and drew their swords as Arady held up a
hand. A young man came bursting out onto the road, and halted abruptly
in front of them. He stared for a moment, then whipped off his
broad-brimmed hat, held it in front of himself and made a flourishing
bow.
"Fair ladies, if I might perhaps ask-" he began, and then yelped and
darted behind the horses as a black-bearded man burst out of the
thicket behind him, purple with fury.
"Yer godforsaken diddeger!" he yelled, ducking and weaving to catch a
glimpse of the younger man. "I'll have yer hide!"
"Peace, sir!" said Arady. "This fellow has - I think - claimed our
protection?" The fair-haired youth nodded vigorously, still clutching
his hat. "Which means we will not turn him over without just cause;
now speak, and let us hear this matter out."
"He's a bleedin' - pardon, Sister - a benighted idiot, is the matter!
Leapt into the pig-pen and killed the watchdog!"
"Is this true, sir?" asked Arady of the youth, who was suddenly
looking rather guilty.
"Er - well - it is true I slew a great and terrible hound," he
said. "It was attacking the swine."
Arady gave him a very piercing look, from the height of her horse. He
cleared his throat and flushed.
"Well, so I thought," he said.
"I see," she replied. "Master swineherd, is the beast dead, or
wounded?"
"Might as well be dead," said the bearded man. "Don't see how 'e can
live with a hole cut in 'is side."
"I think perhaps Sister Els can aid you there," said Arady, and waved
Els forward. Els dismounted Mallow and handed his reins to Tuli.
"I will never live that dray-horse down, will I," she said.
"It seems not," murmured Verel beside them, with a smile.
"Show me him, master," she said. "I have the gift of healing beasts as
well as men."
The swineherd struck off the road into the woods, with Els following.
"And now, young master," said Arady, wheeling her horse to face the
embarrassed youth, "Perhaps you can tell us why it is you were slaying
mighty hounds in nothing but your hat."
"Er - well," said the naked young man, still clutching the hat over
his thighs. "I can explain it all."